25km - 2 memorable runs

9th Nov:
16th Nov was the date for Bangalore ultra - a trail run of 25/50/75/100k. The feedback from earlier years was that its a tough trail. So a few of us decided to do a 25k trail somewhere else. The spot chosen was belandur forest. I didnt know what to expect till we reached the spot.The place was a small thicket with a patch of forest in the middle. The forest led to a asphalt road. The whole stretch was out and back 25 km. The best part of the whole run was in the forest and along the fields. The morning mist added to the whole magic. The dew drops collected in spider webs made them look like white shiny hammocks for little people. It was cloudy, misty and all magical. The run itself was a pleasure trip in itself. Vibrams helped me absorb all the tactile sensations the ground could offer. The villagers we passed by were amazed at people running with ipods in their ears.I finished the run in just under 3 hrs.

16th Nov:
The day of the ultra. I had hardly slept the previous night. Plan was to meet at a frnd's place at 4:45 am car pool and drive down to the venue at Our native village. ONV is a resort around 30km outside bangalore. The surrounding area is woods. The drive was pleasant except the worry of impending rain. But the worst we saw was just a drizzle.It was about 6:30 by the time we reached ONV. The place was a nature lovers delight. There was lot of forest cover and the morning was pregnant with cooing of birds and cool wind. It was a bit cloudy with nice breeze and the sun wasnt out yet. The whole place was abuzz with activity. 100k and 50k runs had already started. From the look of it the trail looked tough with hills and hard rocky ground. My experience with Kaveri said vibrams are ok as long as I know where my feet are landing. The run started at 7:30 am. I was running with my frnd and decided to do the first loop (12.5km) easy.In retrospect that seems like a mistake as we took it too easy. We covered 12.5 km in almost 2 hrs. But the rest of the run was a breeze. The total time came to 3 hrs 12 minutes

Carb Loading - a gastronomical tour

Well it wasn't actually meant to be carb loading. But as this blog is about running I had to fit it in :).
Last week my friend and I decided to do a gastronomical breakfast tour of old bangalore. We chose a Saturday as it fits well with our day jobs. The plan was to leave around 6:30 from my place and take a bus to KR market. But my frnd got delayed and we ended up catching a bus at 7 am which wasn't too bad. Reached KR market at around 7:20. It was a good 15 min walk to Vidyarthi Bhavan (VB) in Gandhi Nagar. The street was lined with all kind of hustlers selling flowers for early morning pooja, some selling road side bun-maska to workers who dont have the luxury of enjoying a leisurely breakfast. As soon as we entered the place we were hit by wafting smells and sizzling sounds of dosas getting made on huge pans. Waking up so early and the physical exertion of a bus ride and walk made us really hungry. So we found a table and asked the waiter in a blue shirt and white lungi (VB's waiter uniform) to get use 2 masala dosas. The place was packed to the gills. Was nothing fancy about the place, the tables were white granite/marble topped with four seater decolum lined benches for seating. The walls were bare except for an occasional picture of Ganesha or some pencil portraits of, whom I assumed to be, former owners of the place. The place had a well worn feel to it and most customers looked like regulars. They were greeting each other and sitting next to perfect strangers and waiting for their dosas to arrive. The common dish ordered seemed to be the masala dosa.
We had to wait for atleast 20 mins before out dosas arrived. It was a small steel plate with a circular dosa on it folded right in the middle. The fold contained the masala, a semi solid curry of onion and potatoes. We had to wait yet another 5 minutes before the chutney was served. The waiters seemed to mean all business, no small talk or fake smiles to greet the customers. And the customers looked like their business was to get their hands on their favorite dishes. We started gorging on our food. The dosa was thick and grainy with oodles of ghee on it. The taste was really good and the chutney only enhanced the flavors of the potato onion curry. I cant say its the best dosa I have eaten but it was much better than most. The size was a tad smaller but given the fact that it was so rich with ghee and masala I would not have asked for a bigger size. We downed the food with a steel glass full of filter coffee which was a perfect way to end the first session of our tour.
Our next stop was supposed to be a place called Raghavendra Tiffin centre. We knew only vague directions so kept walking. On the way stopped to take in the beauty of an all marble Jain temple, we lamented at the cutting of trees to make way for a metro station, drank a coconut and haggled with an old lady selling sea shells. We also came across an old fort called Bangalore fort. It was more of an army camp and was built around 1700 AD. The gardner and gaurd were kind enough to let us in and show us around. Nothing marvelous but some weird etchings caught our eye. There was a wall covered with 3 fish sharing a single head, another fish with a trunk and a human foetus. It was a bit bizzare to say the least. Looked like ramblings of an artist etched in stone. On our way out we tipped the people there. We still couldnt figure out the way to Raghavendra Tiffin Center so our walk continued.On the way tender coconuts provided us the much needed hydration.There is something so refreshing about the water inside which no other drink can match.
One of the streets had a Jodhpur Sweet House selling hot kachoris. Though it wasnt a part of the plan we decided to dig into some kachoris. The decision turned out to be a gastronomically delightful one. The kachoris were awesome with right crispness yet melting in the mouth and the spicy concoction inside attacking our taste buds to create a pleasant after effect. We packed a few for families back home and set off yet again. The place we were going through was a perfect scenario of order in chaos. There were people all around hawking, buying, fighting, or just plain loitering.
We finally found R Tiffin center. We draged ourselves into a seat and ordered idli vada and coffee. The idli was good but the rest of the fare seemed average at best. By the time we came to coffee both were full to our cheeks so left a nice tip and decided to head back home.
The way back was uneventful and a pleasant ride in a city bus. Reached home by 11 am savoring the tastes we encountered on this weekend morning.